Individual-check distributer.



PATENTED JULY 10, 1906.

J. T. HICKS. INDIVIDUAL CHECK DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION PILIID MAR.10, 1906.

F g- I 2/ wnmses;

UNITED e r- PATENT INDIVIDUAL-CHECK. Q SI J ER.

Specification of Letters Patent nflate J V Q, .995

Application filed March 10,1906- Serial No. 305,328.

To [bl/Z whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. HIoKs, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Medford, in the county of hjiiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Individual-Check Distributors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a box or receptacle for containing checks, slips, or similar means for use by waiters in hotels and restaurants, more particularly restaurants of the class commonly 'teriner Quick lunch or Quick service, where a hasty meal is served; and the object of the invention is to provide a neat and simple box which will contain a suitable number of checks and which is provided with a punch or cancellation attachment for punching out portions of the check in order thereby to indicate the value of the food served, and consequently the sum to he paid by the guest.

The invention therefore consists, essentially, in a box or holder for carrying a roup of checks deliverable therefrom individually through a slot at the will of the waiter and for quick-lunch service, said holder being provided with a punch, so that as soon as the check is withdrawn from the box it can be inserted into the punch and the proper amount canceled before giving the check to the guest; and the invention consists in numerous details and peculiaritiesin the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved check-box with cancellation attachment. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same in partial section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a section at right angles to the section of Fig. 3.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures.

1 denotes a box, receptacle, or holder having an interior space 8, intended to hold a suitable number of slips or checks, a group of which is indicated at 9 in Fig. 4, there being a follower or plate 10 pressed by a spring 11 against these checks and keeping them in place and in position for use. One flat side or bottom of the box may be provided. with one or more slots, as 26, over which lies the lowermost check of the bunch in position to be touched by the finger of the waiter. using.

the box. press the bunch of checks against the. bottom of the box at all times, no matter how much the bunch may have been depleted by the removal of checks. In one end of the box is a slot 2, through which the checks are withdrawn singly by an ejecting device, and the check withdrawn each time is the one next the side or bottom, or the one on the outside of the bunch. One end of the box is closed by means of a cover 3, consisting of a narrow strip of metal: having right-angled flanges 4 at each end, which embrace the adjoining corners of the box, said flanges 4 being provided on the inside faces with a lug or knob 5, that engages a perforation 7 in the wall of the box. At the opposite end of the box is a similar cover 12 for closing that end,

said cover 12 consisting ofa narrow strip of metal having right-angled flanges l3 13, which embrace the adjoining corners of the box, said flanges being provided with lugs or knobs 14, that engage perforations 15 in the wall of the box. I i

One of the covers (cover 3) is shown in Fig. 3 in the position it occupies in closing the of the box. The other cover (cover 12)is shown in Fig. 3 in the position it takes when being disengaged. As these covers are of spring metal, when it is desired to disengage or remove one of them the only thing the waiter needs to do is to press the thumb or finger against the middle portion, thereby pressing it as indicated at the left hand in Fig. 3, the result of which is to push the central portion of the cover inwardly, and there by disengage the lugs or knobs 14 at one or both ends from the perforations 15 and allow the cover to be removed from the box. Its spring v character permits the cover to be readily replaced on the box in the position where it embraces the end of the same, as shown in the drawings,whereby an effectual closure is made. The same explanation, of course, applies to the covers at both ends of the box. In this way the box is kept securely locked or fastened without a key and a very neat and simple device is furnished. The cover 3 has a portion cut out thereof along the edge so as to construct the slot 2, through which the checks are withdrawn. Obviously either cover at either end may be removed at any time to allow a new lot of The spring 11- and follower. 10.

checks to be placed within the box after the supply has been exhausted.

At the four corners of the upper or top side of box 1 the metal of the cover is struck up at 6 6 to form the raised inclined ribs which provide slots, as indicated in Fig. 1. These slots may be formed in some other way, if preferred; but this is indicated as a convenient way of making them. They are used to receive the corners of a card which is employed for indicating thereon the waiters number and tabulating-spaces or computation-marks or other indicia representative of the checking system. I

On the side of the box 1 I arrange a punching device for punching the checks. Checks of the kind commonly required for quicklunch service have a series of figures denoting different values, and it is customary to punch outsuch figure as represents the value of the particular order, and this is commonly done by means of a punch carried by the waiter.

In order to obviate the difliculty and expense of an extra and additional device for punching, I apply mypunching implement directlyto the side of the box. It may be made in a variety of different ways; but commonly it consists of a piece of spring metal 22, fastened to the side of the box at one end in some suitable manner and at the other end lifted sufficiently far away from the side of the box, so that it can have a movement back and forth with relation to it. On the under side of the spring 22 is secured at a short distance therefrom a parallel flat spring 23. These parallel spring-plates 22 and 23 are perforated at 25, and adjoining this perforation a rigid pin 24 is fastened to the side of the box, over which pin the springs act when depressed, so that if a check be inserted between the two springs when the upper one, as 22, is pressed toward the side of the box the pin 24 will cause a portion of the check to be punched orremoved therefrom, which portion corresponds in shape and size to the per foration in the spring 22 and to the outer end of pin 24.

The checking devicefor expelling the checks singly from the box consists of a plate 20, inside the box, against which the checks 9 rest. This plate 20 is formed with a lip 21, which projects through a slot 16 when the plate 20 is retracted to the position where it catches a check.

On the outside of the box is a button 18',

having a pin 19 working through a slot 17 and The button 18 is fastened to the plate 20. easily manipulated by hand, and thereby the lip 21 is caused to engage the adjacent check, and by pushing button 18 along through the slot 17 the check will be expelled through the delivery-slot 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. A checkbox, having at one end a slot for the individual delivery of checks, and provided at the other end with a removable cover consisting of a spring-plate having at the ends angular flanges formed with lugs, said lugs adapted to engage perforations in the sides of the box.

2. In a check-box, the combination with the check-box having perforated walls, of a spring-plate having right-angled flanges at the ends thereof, said flanges being provided with lugs or knobs adapted to engage the perforations in the wall of the box.

3. In a check-box, a box-frame having perforated walls, in combination with removable covers at the ends, each cover consisting of a spring-plate provided with angular flanges having lugs or projections engaging the perforations in the box.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 5th day of March, 1906.

JOHN T. HICKS. Witnesses:

GRACE FINNIss, WINFIELD F. PRIME. 

